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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Product Review and Giveaway

I got up early this morning and did a 8.5 mile run with the sunrise. It was beautiful out and then I had to go into work for a couple hours to finish doing inventory..boo to that! Good news is.. I got a camera today a newer version of the one I had before. I am still learning to use it, but it has some funner features than my old one. I can't wait to really get out and get some good pictures.

I have been meaning to do a giveaway for quite awhile. I was very lucky and won several, so I wanted to spread the fun around some more. I was going to do it when I got to 50 followers, but I was so busy, then I thought I would at 75, but time flew by and here I am finally getting around to it, and the good news is I have several more lined up that I am really excited about ! :)

I was paging through a Runner's World issue from last year and saw an ad in the back for a free trial of this energy gel, that is made with agave and dutch chocolate. Yum! I am recently started to experiment with agave nectar a little so this perked my interest. I love that you can use less of it and it is sweeter than sugar. So I went to the website, but the free trial time had expired, so I wrote to the company asking if I could still get a free trial and do a giveaway on my blog. He wrote back right away and agreed. So here it is my first giveaway! Yeah so that one in the picture is open because I wanted to taste it again as I was writing this (it's pretty good) then I remembered that I hadn't taken any pictures yet. the one on the left is all crinkled from being in my fuel belt this morning but the one in front is still pretty :)

Here is what the website says about it:

Chocolate #9 is different because it:

is sweetened only with organic agave.

contains no refined sugar or other HIGH glycemic index sweeteners.

has been – tested and certified – as a “LOW” glycemic index (GI) item.

It is pretty good. It has a dark chocolate taste to it. I used it this morning on my 8.5 mile run. I don't normally use gel at the start of a run, but since it was 5 am and all I had eaten was one piece of toast with peanut butter, and I am trialling it I went ahead and tried it. Initial taste was good. Has a smooth texture and is chocolaty, but would I like it during a run? Five miles in I decided to try it again. Pouch was easy to rip open as I was running along. I was able to enjoy the flavor and swallow it easily. I remember some runs last summer where I felt like I was gagging my gels down with water, but this went good. And tasted good. If you like chocolate flavored gels I definitely recommend this one. I never felt a big burst of energy from the gel, but I could feel a steady increase in my energy that lasted the rest of my run. I will be taking this along on runs again.

In case you were wondering what is so great about Belgian chocolate (I was) read here and if you want to learn more about agave nectar go here. It is a pretty informative website about agave nectar and its health benefits.

Does this sound like something you would like to try? Here's how you can enter for a chance to try it yourself.

MANDATORY:
1. Be a follower or become one.

Extra Entries
2. Like Chocolate #9 on Facebook HERE and tell them I sent you.

3. Visit the Chocolate #9 Website HERE and tell me what you liked
4. Post this giveaway on your blog

I visited Chocolate #9 website and LOVE that it's used by Team Type 1 - what a great testimony to the product's value for endurance athletes (diabetic or not). I think the last picture on the Team Type 1 page is hilarious - it's a full tote of the gel - nice!!!!

I love how it is low on the glycemic index - my dad is type 1 diabetic and also occasionally runs, so I will be suggesting this to him (he will usually carry an orange juice with him when he runs - not as easy a gel, thats for sure!)

the website is super interesting. I like that the creator is an outdoors person/endurance athlete as well and created it with all of us in mind. Plus...I never considered that the other fuels had so much sugar and could lead to problems later!